National Gender Assistant

Organizational Setting

FAO Iraq is committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment as an integral component of its technical work, as mandated by the corporate Policy on Gender Equality 2020-2030.The Green Climate Fund (GCF)-funded project “Enhancing Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Agriculture Households in Southern Iraq” includes a dedicated component (2.3) focused on Enhancing Climate Resilience for Women, with the aim of building a cadre of trained women pioneers under Climate Wise Women (CWW) initiative, a  pilot initiative developed by FAO Iraq, to act as change agents and key drivers for climate adaptation in their communities.
To support the effective and inclusive implementation of this component, a National Gender Assistant with an agriculture background will provide targeted technical support to ensure gender considerations are integrated into the design, delivery, and monitoring of all activities under Output 2.3.1. The incumbent will play a key role in locally sensitive mainstreaming gender across training curricula, extension mechanisms, and farmer engagement strategies to enhancing women’s participation and outreach within the Climate Wise Women (CWW) initiative, and the broader climate-resilient agriculture interventions.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Iraq, the National Gender Assistant will work under the direct supervision of the FAO International Gender Expert of the project, and in coordination with the project technical team-members.

Technical Focus

The National Gender Assistant will support the implementation of Output 2.3.1, ensuring that all technical assistance, training modules, community outreach, and knowledge products developed under the Climate Wise Women (CWW) initiative are designed and delivered in an inclusive and locally adapted manner. The expert will ensure that methodologies, outreach strategies, training systems, and monitoring frameworks effectively address the specific needs, constraints, and contributions of women farmers, while strengthening and enhancing their capacities in climate-resilient agriculture.
The role will also involve close coordination with relevant government counterparts, local facilitators, and women beneficiaries to ensure effective roll-out of the CWW approach. Additionally, the expert will contribute to broader gender mainstreaming across FAO Iraq’s programming by supporting sex-disaggregated data collection, and reporting on gender-related results at project level.

Tasks and responsibilities

Technical Support and Curriculum Adaptation: 

•    Work closely with curriculum designers and training providers to integrate gender dimensions in CWW and Master Trainer modules, ensuring contextual relevance and accessibility to rural women.
•    Provide inputs to the training needs assessment to ensure gender-sensitive modules and tools. 

Capacity Building and Training Oversight:

•    Support the nomination, selection, and training of Master Trainers, and the selection of local facilitators.
•    Provide backstopping during the Master-Trainers training and oversight of local facilitators cascaded-trainings and demonstrations at a field-level. 

Community Engagement and CWW Support:

•    Support the development of a field plan for community engagement and establishment of women groups in three governorates.
•    Oversee and report on the contractual and operational setup of CWW cadre and women groups (stipend delivery, refreshments, etc.)

Stakeholder Coordination and Institutional Engagement:

•    Coordinate with key government entities (e.g., Directorate of Agriculture, Extension Services), and relevant stakeholder for smooth implementation.
•    Represent CWW component in relevant meetings, validation workshops, and multi-stakeholder forums when requested.

Liaison with Field Facilitators and Cross-Program Synergies:

•    Liaise with field-level facilitators, including those engaged in Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and other CRA-related initiatives, to enhance coordination, avoid duplication, and ensure complementary learning for women and youth in rural areas.
•    Facilitate learning exchanges and joint sessions/activities between FFS and CWW facilitators where relevant.
Monitoring, Reporting, and Knowledge Sharing:
•    Contribute to the formulation of sex-disaggregated data for Output 2.3.1, in collaboration with the M&E team, and other outputs of the project when requested.
•    Provide monthly progress reports on gender results under the CWW initiative.
•    Document case studies and success stories at the community level.

Perform any other related duties, as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements  
  

•    Bachelor’s degree in one of the agricultural sciences or social sciences fields
•    Minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in women-empowerment programming within agriculture or rural development sectors.
•    Working knowledge of both Arabic and English.
•    National of Iraq.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Demonstrated experience in gender mainstreaming in rural/agricultural programming and climate change adaptation.
•    Knowledge of the local southern governorates of Iraq, in particular Kerbala, Najaf, and Muthana. 
•    Ability to travel to remote field sites in Southern Iraq.
•    Proficient in basic computer skills including MS Office.
•    Good skills in report writing, trainings and compilation of reports.
•    Familiarity with FAO’s scope of work and participatory approaches is desirable.
•    Women& youth candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION